Knicks draw crowd's ire, beat Pacers anyway

Published: Wednesday, March 07, 2001

NEW YORK After being booed off the court following a lousy first quarter, the New York Knicks rediscovered the intensity that had been missing for a week and came back to defeat the Indiana Pacers 97-83 Tuesday night.

Kurt Thomas scored 19 points, Latrell Sprewell had 16 and Mark Jackson 15 for the Knicks, who had six double-figure scorers. Marcus Camby returned from a two-game absence and had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Travis Best had 18, Jalen Rose added 16 and Reggie Miller 14 for the Pacers. Miller went 0-for-5 from the field in the fourth quarter and scored just three points over the final three quarters.

After falling behind 30-13, the Knicks shot 56 percent over the final three quarters, committed only three turnovers over that span and shut down a Pacers offense that was working to perfection in the first 12 minutes.

New York wrapped up the victory with an 18-1 run that consumed most of the final 61/2 minutes to avenge a 13-point home loss to the Pacers earlier this season.

The teams will play each other again tonight at Indianapolis, with the Knicks bringing a seven-game road losing streak into that game.

This victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Knicks that included a loss to the lowly Chicago Bulls. Coach Jeff Van Gundy said his team needed to rediscover its intensity, and the thing that finally made it happen was the anger of their fans after the first quarter ended with Indiana holding a 17-point lead.

The Timberwolves, winners of four straight, beat the Hornets for the first time since 1997 and for the first time ever in Charlotte. They had lost four straight to Charlotte and were 0-11 in the Coliseum.

Bulls 87, Cavaliers 74

CHICAGO Reserve Marcus Fizer had 17 points and four other Bulls scored in double figures as Chicago won for the fifth time in 11 games since the All-Star break. The Bulls still have the league's worst record at 11-48.

Matt Harpring scored 16 for the Cavaliers, who have now lost of 17 of their last 19 games.

The Kings survived a first-half stretch that saw them miss 21 of 23 shots in running their home record to a league-best 24-5.

Vince Carter and Antonio Davis both scored 25 points for the Raptors, who had their season-high five-game winning streak snapped.

Suns 93, Nuggets 82

DENVER Shawn Marion, playing for the first time in 10 days, scored 22 points Tuesday night as the Phoenix Suns beat the depleted Denver Nuggets 93-82.

Tom Gugliotta added 25 points and Jason Kidd had eight points, eight rebounds and 10 assists to help the Suns defeat Denver for the second time in four days. Phoenix has won seven straight over Denver and 16 of 17.

The Nuggets, who have lost four straight and 15 of 19, played without starting point guard Nick Van Exel (bruised knee) and All-Star forward Antonio McDyess (dislocated kneecap). Robert Pack, starting in place of Van Exel, led the Nuggets with 22 points.